Soomra dynasty

{{pp-semi-indef|small=yes}} {{Short description|Muslim dynasty in Sindh}} {{EngvarB|date=April 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}} {{Infobox country | native_name = {{Langx|sd|{{Naskh|سومرا گهراڻو}}}} | conventional_long_name = Soomra dynasty | common_name = Sindh, Balochistan, Gujarat | status = Vassals of the [[Abbasid Caliphate]] (1026–1351)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stanton |first1=Andrea |title=Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, & Africa, Volume 4 |date=2012 |publisher=SAGE Publications |page=110 |isbn=978-1-4129-8176-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GtCL2OYsH6wC&dq=soomras+vassal+abbasids&pg=RA3-PA110}}</ref> Tributary of the [[Ghaznavids]] (1026–1030) | year_start = 1026 | year_end = 1351 (Continued in exile until 1440 in [[Umerkot]]) | date_start = | date_end = | event_start = Soomra dynasty begins | event_end = Soomra dynasty ends | p1 = Habbari dynasty | flag_p1 = | p2 = | flag_p2 = | s1 = Samma Dynasty | flag_s1 = | s2 = | flag_s2 = | image_flag = | image_map = {{South Asia in 1175|center||{{Annotation|44|75|[[File:Rectangle (plain).svg|45px]]}}}} | image_map_caption = | religion = [[Shia]] [[Ismaili]] | capital = Mansura (1026) Thari (in present-day [[Badin District]] in [[Sindh]]) | official_languages = [[Sindhi language|Sindhi]] (in Arabic and Devanagari scripts)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Panhwar |first1=M. H. |title=An Illustrated Historical Atlas of Soomra Kingdom of Sindh: 1011–1351 AD |date=2003 |publisher=Soomra National Council, Pakistan |page=222 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Lakho |first1=Ghulam Muhammad |title=The Samma Kingdom of Sindh: historical studies |date=2006 |publisher=Institute of Sindhology, University of Jamshoro |location=Jamshoro |isbn=9789694050782 |pages=176-177 |edition=1st}}</ref> | common_languages = [[Sindhi language|Sindhi]] (native language) [[Arabic language|Arabic]] (liturgical language) | government_type = Monarchy | title_leader = | leader1 = | year_leader1 = 1026–1030 | leader2 = | year_leader2 = 1333–1351 1351–1355 in exile | footnotes = | demonym = | area_km2 = | area_rank = | GDP_PPP = | GDP_PPP_year = | HDI = | HDI_year = | today = [[Sindh]] }} {{History of Pakistan}} The '''Soomra dynasty''' ({{langx|sd|{{Naskh|سومرا گهراڻو}}|translit=Sūmrā Gharāṇō}})<ref name="NB2021">{{cite book |last1=Balocu |first1=Nabī Bakhshu Khānu |title=Jāmiʻ Sindhī lughāta |date=2021 |publisher=Sindhī Adabī Borḍ |page=1036}}</ref> was a late medieval dynasty of [[Sindh]] ruled by the [[Soomro]] [[tribe]] of [[Sindh]], and at times adjacent regions, located in what is now [[Pakistan]].<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |title=The Arab Conquest |journal=International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics |date=2007 |volume=36 |issue=1 |page=91 |quote=The Soomras are believed to be Parmar Rajputs found even today in Rajasthan, Saurashtra, Kutch and Sindh. The Cambridge History of India refers to the Soomras as "a Rajput dynasty the later members of which accepted Islam" (p. 54 ).}}</ref>

== Sources == The only extant source is the ''Diwan-i Farruhi'', a Persian chronicle by Abul-Hasan Ali describing [[Mahmud of Ghazni]]'s invasion (1025 AD) of [[Mansura, Sindh|Mansura]], the erstwhile capital of Sindh.<ref name=":1" /> Contemporary coinage from Sindh is scarce and of poor quality with offset flans — while some of them can be read to contain the name of [[Al-Zahir li-i'zaz Din Allah]] and [[Al-Mustansir Billah]], the [[Fatimid Caliphate|Fatimid Caliphs]] from 1021 until 1094, thereafter, they lack the name of the issuer and cannot evidence the dynasty.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Fishman |first1=A. M. |title=The silver damma : on the mashas, daniqs, qanhari dirhams and other diminutive coins of India, 600–1100 CE |last2=Todd |first2=I. J. |publisher=IIRNS Publications |year=2018 |isbn=978-81-938291-0-3 |location=Mumbai, India |pages=176–184 |language=en |chapter=Uncertain Late Habbarid and Soomra Sindh ca. 1000-50 CE |oclc=1097788735}}</ref>

== History == ===Establishment=== The early history of Soomras is unclear. Ali describes the flight and eventual death by drowning of Hafif (var. Khafif), then-ruler of Sindh, during the faceoff with Mahmud but does not specify whether he was the last Habbarid or first Soomra.<ref name=":1" />{{efn|C. 1105, Isma'ilis of Multan had sought refuge in Masura during Ghazni's invasion of the city and reasons for his campaign(s) against Hafif are noted to be the flourishing river trade of Isma'ilis and his (Hafif's) alliance with Jats.}} Later chroniclers like [[Ali ibn al-Athir]] (c. late 12th c.) and [[Ibn Khaldun]] (c. late 14th c.) attributed the fall of Habbarids to Mahmud of Ghazni, lending credence to the argument of Hafif being the last Habbarid.<ref name=":1" /> The Soomras appear to have established themselves as a regional power in this vacuum.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Collinet|first=Annabelle|title=Sindh through history and representations : French contributions to Sindhi studies|date=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-547503-6|editor-last=Boivin|editor-first=Michel|location=Karachi|pages=9, 11, 113 (note 43)|language=en|chapter=Chronology of Sehwan Sharif through Ceramics (The Islamic Period)}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Boivin|first=Michel|title=Sindh through history and representations : French contributions to Sindhi studies|date=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-547503-6|editor-last=Boivin|editor-first=Michel|location=Karachi|pages=30|language=en|chapter=Shivaite Cults And Sufi Centres: A Reappraisal Of The Medieval Legacy In Sindh}}</ref>

According to [[André Wink]], the Soomras were a dynasty of local origin, later claiming to be Rajputs as well as [[Arabs]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wink |first=André |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g2m7_R5P2oAC&q=al+hind+andre+wink |title=Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World: Early Medieval India and the Expansion of Islam 7Th-11th Centuries |date=2002 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-0-391-04173-8 |pages=166 |language=en|quote= The Sumras were a dynasty of local origin, later claiming to be Rajputs as well as Arabs, and are clearly distinguishable from the pastoral-nomadic Jats or Mids.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Siddiqui |first1=Habibullah |title=The Soomras of Sindh: their origin, main characteristics and rule – an overview (general survey) (1025 – 1351 AD) |journal=University of Karachi |url=https://uok.edu.pk/faculties/sindhi/docs/soomroEng.pdf}}</ref> They have been retrospectively claimed to be [[Parmar (Rajput clan)|Parmar Rajputs]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Dani |first=Ahmad Hasan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D_xtAAAAMAAJ&q=soomra+dynasty |title=History of Pakistan: Pakistan through ages |date=2007 |publisher=Sang-e Meel Publications |isbn=978-969-35-2020-0 |pages=218 |language=en |quote=But as many kings of the dynasty bore Hindu names, it is almost certain that the Soomras were of local origin. Sometimes they are connected with Paramara Rajputs, but of this there is no definite proof.}}</ref> In [[Ain-i-Akbari]] (16th century) the Soomra dynasty is mentioned as of a [[Rajput]] lineage.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sarkar |first=Jadunath |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.460916 |title=Ain-i-akbari Of Abul Fazl I Allami Vol. 2 Ed. 2nd |date=1949 |pages=343}}</ref> Some of them were adherents of [[Isma'ilism]] — Arab travelers held them to be [[Qarmatians]], and correspondence with the Fatimid caliph, [[Al-Mustansir Billah]] has been located.<ref name=":2" />

=== Territory === The [[Ghurid dynasty|Ghurids]] and [[Ghaznavids]] continued to rule parts of Sindh, across the eleventh and early twelfth century, alongside Soomras.<ref name=":1" /> The precise delineations have yet to be discovered, but the Soomras were probably centered in lower Sindh.<ref name=":1" /> One of their kings Shimuddin Chamisar had submitted to [[Iltutmish]], the [[Sultan of Delhi]], and was allowed to continue as a vassal.<ref name="Ray2019">{{cite book |author=Aniruddha Ray |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jNSNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT43 |title=The Sultanate of Delhi (1206–1526): Polity, Economy, Society and Culture |date=4 March 2019 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-00-000729-9 |pages=43–}}</ref>

== List of Soomro rulers == {| class="wikitable" |+ !Name !Lifespan !Reign Start !Reign End |- |Khafif |976-1026 (aged 49-50) |1010 |1026 |- |[[Soomar]] |998-1053 (aged 54-55) |1026 |1053 |- |[[Asimuddin Bhoongar|Bhungar I]] |1023–1068 (aged 44–45) |1053 |1068 |- |Dodo I |1046–1092 (aged 45–46) |1068 |1092 |- |[[Zainab Tari]] |1068-? |1092 |1098 (as Regent) |- |Sanghar |1076–1107 (aged 30–31) |1092 |1107 |- |Khafif II |1087–1142 (aged 54–55) |1107 |1142 |- |Umar I |1095–1181 (aged 85–86) |1142 |1181 |- |Dodo II |1134–1195 (aged 60–61) |1181 |1195 |- |Bhungar II |1164–1226 (aged 61–62) |1195 |1226 |- |Chanesar |1193–1237 (aged 43–44) |(1st reign) 1226 |1228 |- |Ganhwar |1200–1241 (aged 40–41) |(1st reign) 1228- |1236 |- |Chanesar |1193–1371 (aged 43–44) |(2nd reign) 1236 |1237 |- |Ganhwar |1200–1241 (aged 40–41) |(2nd reign) 1237 |1241 |- |Muhammad Tur |1221–1256 (aged 34–35) |1241 |1256 |- |Ganhwar II |1238–1259 (aged 20–21) |1256 |1259 |- |Dodo III |1254–1273 (aged 19–20) |1259 |1273 |- |Tai |1268–1283 (aged 14–15) |1273 |1283 |- |Chanesar II |1270–1300 (aged 29–30) |1283 |1300 |- |Bhungar III |1291–1315 (aged 23–24) |1300 |1315 |- |Khafif III |1297–1333 (aged 35–36) |1315 |1333 |- |Dodo IV |1298–1336 (aged 37–38) |1333 |1336 |- |Umar II |1315–1337 (aged 21–22) |1336 |1337 |- |Bhungar IV |1319–1341 (aged 21–22) |1337 |1341 |- |Hamir II |1322–1351 (aged 28–29) |1341 |1351 |}

== Kingdom of Umarkot == {| class="wikitable" |+ !Name !Lifespan !Reign Start !Reign End |- |Umar III |1340–1390 (aged 49–50) |1351 |1390 |- |Bhungar V |1358–1400 (aged 41–42) |1390 |1400 |- |Hamir III |1377–1440 (aged 62–63) |1400 |1440 |}

==See also== * [[List of Monarchs of Sindh]] * [[Soomro]] * [[Dodo Chanesar]]

==Notes== {{Notelist}} == References == {{Reflist}}

[[Category:History of Sindh]] [[Category:Medieval Indian dynasties]] [[Category:Dynasties of Pakistan|Sindh]] [[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1351]]